New Dahon D7HG - My First Folder
 

I have owned a LOT of bicycles over the years including four recumbents. I have built several bikes from the bare frame on up, including building wheels.

I live in San Francisco, and often have the need to use public transportation plus a bicycle, and I have been running into some restrictions on full sized bikes (FSB). For instance:

1) SF Muni doesn't allow FSBs inside buses, and they have a rack on the front of many buses that can carry only two bikes. The rack is pretty insecure, and there have been numerous thefts of bicycles off the front racks. The crackheads and bike thieves are pretty aggressive in San Francisco, likely because there is close to zero interest by the police in bike thefts.

2) SF Muni underground doesn't allow FSBs at ALL in the cars and there are no external racks.

3) Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has major restrictions on FSBs during rush hours, and they don't allow you to use the escalators while carrying an FSB. You have to hump it on your shoulder up and down two flights of stairs.

4) CalTrain has bike cars, but during major commute hours the cars often get full and you cannot board with an FSB. I have in the past had three trains stop at a station before there is room for a bike, and even then they stack them four deep and people don't take much care of others' bikes, so the bikes get all beat up.

5) Bike theft... if you leave it outside, no matter how you lock it, it may not be there when you return

A folder solves all these problems. You can carry them (folded) inside a Muni bus or underground car, you can carry them folded on BART any time, and you can carry them on the regular non-bike cars on Caltrain. Since you can fold it up and bring it inside, it isn't likely to be stolen while you are at work, either.

I went folder shopping at a shop in SF called Warm Planet Bikes, which also provides free bicycle parking for Caltrain bike commuters. It's a cool shop, selling only folders and utility bikes like Extracycles. They also do service and sell accessories.

I test rode a Dahon D7HG and liked it a lot right off the bat. I really liked the simplicity and low maintenance of the 7 speed Nexus hub, and for rides around the flatter areas of SF the gearing is fine. If I KNOW I am going to be doing a lot of climbing I will use my FS bike with its 27 speed drivetrain and 11/34 rear cassette.

What I don't like about the D7HG

1) cheap wheels with a very grabby seam that makes the front brake pulse like a mofo. I spent an hour or so this morning reworking it and it's now perfectly true and the rim seam is smooth. I put on some KoolStop MTB salmon/black pads in the front that I had laying around and that improved the front brake immensely. Still I ordered a set of Avid SD5 brakes for it.

2) Terrible, crappy pedals. I rode the bike a little over 20 miles yesterday (my first long-ish ride on it) and several times my feet almost slipped off the plastic surface, and I could feel the pedals flexing under my weight. I ordered a set of MKS FD-7 pedals this morning to cure that.

3) The saddle. It's OK, but I am a generally a hard leather saddle kind of guy (my other bike has a Brooks B17 and I have had Brooks saddles on most of my recent bikes except the 'bents). I ordered a Velo-Orange brown leather touring saddle with springs this morning. This bike has a pretty upright seating position and I think the springs will be an asset (pardon the pun). I love the Brooks saddles, but they are sure fond of themselves these days with their pricing. The VO gets great reviews, and it costs about 1/2 what the equivalent Brooks costs.

Other than that, I am pretty darn pleased with the bike. It felt a little strange at first, but yesterday after several miles I pretty much forgot about it being a folder and it felt pretty normal (well except for the beating you take on rough pavement with the 20" wheels). Overall, I am very very pleased!

Congrats! I will admit that the Vitesse D7HG is my ideal spec bike. If I could afford one, I would have had a testride and probably bought if favourable. The specs on paper are ideal for what I want!

Any pics?

I was pleasantly surprised at the price. Although the bike sells for $949 lots of places, Warm Planet Bikes sold this one to me (brand new) for $629 + tax. I haven't taken any pics yet, I will after I get the new parts installed on it. Right now it just looks like the pics on the website.

Congrats and welcome to the fold.

You might consider upgrading to the Joule generator front wheel. I believe it has the same double-wall rim that is used on the Kinetix Comp wheels. It has been available in both silver and black. Your LBS should be able to get one. If not, www.thorusa.com usually has them. Hope this helps.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Thanks. I don't like the feel of generator hubs. I have had them on recumbents in the past (German $on hubs), and in fact just rode a bike equipped with one last week. I can feel the pulsing. They're also heavy. I have a great little headlight (Light & Motion Urban 180) that easily installs and uninstalls on any of my bikes, so I really don't have need of a generator hub. I think these wheels will be OK for me until I get around to building a set out of better components.

Hi Michael, what a small world this is, I know you. We used to ride motards together few years ago. Congrats on your new folder, the Vitesse is a nice bike.

This is Frank from SBR. I'm riding bicycles now at least twice a week. Had acl knee surgery couple months ago so trying to get the leg strong again. Just got back from a bicycle ride with a few old time SBR folk. (mightslip, Hiedi, Real, Eric B) Couple of us meet up to ride from SF often, both mid week and on weekends across the bridge to have lunch in sausalito. It would be really great if you could join us. I have a Dahon Mu Uno, which I converted to an auto two speed hub. The twenty inch Dahon bike is a fun ride, and easy to keep in my truck. But I'm able to go a hell of a lot faster on my roadbike, which I break out for the harder rides.

Been a long time, hope to see you out there soon!

Sure, I remember you Frank. IIRC, the only time your motocycle needed a front wheel was when it was parked at a lunch stop! ;-) I stopped riding motorcycles altogether a couple years back.

Thanks, I think so too.

Love to! I remember Mike and Heidi, but not the others. I often ride from my place in SF up to Larkspur, then take the ferry back to SF (to avoid that climb back up to the bridge from Sausalito!). I am such a loner that virtually ALL of my bicycle rides have been solos. It's mostly because of my comfortable pace being too slow for most folks. It would be fun to ride with y'all as long as you don't mind that I am like the tortoise in the fable... I'm slow, but steady.

Very cool. I admit I didn't really look too hard at any of the other bikes there at the shop, I really wanted that 7 speed internal gear hub. But if you have good lungs and good legs, the single or duo is probably lighter and simpler, that's for sure!

I hear ya. I have a Soma DoubleCross frame that I built up about 10 years back ... even built the wheels myself. It's my #1 ride, and for that trip to Larkspur I need the gearing. If I rode with you guys, I would no doubt bring the Soma instead of the Dahon (unless it's a foldable-only ride). I find the lowest gear isn't low enough for some of the hills I encounter.

Anyway, let's trade emails and phones via PM and we'll get together!

Nice bike and congrats and welcome to folder's world....

My first folder was the 2007 version and it's still doing fine, hopefully it'll keep going for many more years. I swapped out the chainset and put a thudbuster ST on it.

I took it for about a 20 mile ride today from my house in SF out to Fort Point (a Civil War fort that sits under the south end of the Golden Gate bridge).

It's really a fun bike to ride. Some of the hills make me wish I had a lower gear, but I'm not too proud at my age to get off and push it. Took this picture on the ride home, at Crissy Field just south of the Golden Gate Bridge. Gorgeous day!

http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Bicycl...1110134716.jpg

PS: The red thing on the handlebars is a Delorme PN-60 GPS in a quick disconnect RAM mount.

You can change the gearing at the hub if needed.

Yeah, I know. It has a 17T cog in the rear and there are several bigger ones available. I wouldn't want to change it too much, maybe to a 19. Not sure if that would require a new chain or if the rear axle can move far enough forward in the dropouts to accommodate it. I don't think I would mind the hit on the top end, since if I am topping out in 7th I am usually going downhill anyway.

probably need a new chain. Here is the Sheldon gear calculator http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/s...s.html#ighcalc

New farkles arrived today, so I got busy and installed them:

1) Velo Orange Model 5 touring saddle
2) Civia Linden ergo grips
3) MKS FP-7 folding pedals
4) Avid Single Digit 5 brakes

Here are some pics. It started to rain while I was taking the pics so I missed getting the grips. The saddle is very comfy, and so are the grips. The pedals are typical MKS quality, light-years better than the cheap plastic Suntour folders that came on the bike. The brakes are superb... smooth and powerful as I have come to expect from Avid's V brakes. All in all, I am very happy with the changes. After the rain stops tomorrow morning I hope to get it out for a decent ride.

http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Bicycl...O/newstuff.jpg

http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Bicycl...O/vosaddle.jpg

http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Bicycl.../0/O/pedal.jpg

http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Bicycl...edalfolded.jpg

http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Bicycl...avidsd5-XL.jpg

I hate to leave out the grips. They are from the Civia Linden bicycle company, and they are soft and very grippy, almost sticky. They were only ten bucks through Amazon too. I had to cut the right one for the twist shifter and unfortunately didn't do a real good job of it. I have never mastered cutting rubber grips. Anyway, here's a stock photo of the grips:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

The vitesse is my first folder as well, and i have to say i have no idea why Dahon use such cheap parts on this bike besides the internal gear hub. The wheel is not even kinetix comp, brakes are passable, saddle is just standard, cheap tires....and they actually charge customers 949 bucks. I got mine a few years ago so the price was reasonable, but with the new price i believe they should upgrade the vitesse with better parts. Considering you can get a similar tern bike for a much better parts and quality.

Speaking of upgrading, does anyone here know how to add a derailleur to a vitesse d7hg? It does not have a dropout or any place or a hanger. I want to change the wheels, add a 9 speed cassette and a sram x9 derailleur on it.

I think it's impractical to add a 9 speed derailleur to this bike. No hanger, horizontal dropouts, etc... if you want more gears, the Shimano Alfine hub is available with up to 11 speeds, but it's expensive. Still, it would be a lot easier conversion than the derailleur setup.

Ahhh....sad news...i hoping to keep my vitesse around by doing that. I find the internal hub to be too heavy, and of course theres no way i could fork that much money for an alfine 11 speed hub.

Well, I may be wrong. I'm sure if I am someone will chime in.

Something to consider though... since you got your bike when they were a lot less expensive, you might consider selling it and buying something that is more suited to your current tastes.

Schlumpf drive would probably help http://www.utahtrikes.com/ARTICLE-33.html

I agree.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

excellent idea
much less headache
and most likely much cheaper
thor

You might be able to get a cheap Universal Hanger to work .. or DMR Axle tugs ..

How do the springs of the VO compare to the Brooks? The springs on my Flyer are stiff and I am getting very little suspension. Read somewhere on BF that Brooks changed few years ago to thicker wires to improve reliability.